Midland Students Using New Online Tutoring Program

February 14, 2009 at 2:28 AM CST - Updated July 1 at 1:55 PM

By Wyatt GoolsbyNewsWest 9

MIDLAND - Some Midland students are getting a boost in the classroom thanks to a new online tutoring program. It's the first of its kind for the school district, and it's an idea teachers hope will lead to better grades.

"Everything that they do, kids are spending more and more time online at home on the computer, so I think it's something they grasp," Midland High Algebra teacher Warren Cottle, explained.

It's not out with the old, but it's definitely in with the new at Midland High School. "Education 2020 is an online tutoring and instruction program aimed at improving students test scores by teaching at their own pace.

"That's the beauty of it too, is you have kids that catch on to certain ideas faster. They obviously move along a lot quicker. We have a student that maybe struggles a little bit with a subject or an idea, it allows them to stay at a pace they can learn," Cottle explained.

Students like Alfredo Pando and Roberto Cibrian are just two of the few students here in the Basin to have used the program. They told NewsWest 9, there are specific things about Education 2020 that help them to learn Algebra.

"In the classroom, there's just the information given, and [E2020] is the specific information which you need," Pando explained.

"If you don't understand, she will teach it, she'll go slow, like step by step and teach you what to do, how to do it, and get better at it," Cibrian added.

The school district has planned on the program since the fall, but this is the first week for the algebra students. As good as an online tutor can be, teachers said it's not a replacement for the classroom.

"I still think you need to have instruction, because it is awfully hard to focus on a screen for a long period of time," Cottle explained. "I'm a big believer if you can combine the working out and getting the practice and application at the same time you are getting a lesson, I think that may be the best of all worlds."

For now, what is starting small here could be something students can use years down the line.